The Wind is Nothing Without the Sea... Part 3
by Dejiko1
Summary: Chapter 3 of my Haruka/Michiru fanfic. *FINALLY got it up!*


The Wind is Nothing Without the Sea...  
Chapter 3  
By Noa Okami  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Haruka sat wearily on the hood of her car. She had spent most of the   
day driving around Tokyo, tears streaming down her cheeks, and   
blaring music over her car stereo. She had finally pulled over at the   
beach and watched the sunset into the ocean. There, she had let   
herself break down and cry. The question that kept flitting through   
her mind was 'Why? Why did this have to happen?' but neither the   
ocean or the wind brought an answer to her anguished heart.  
Now the moon started to rise and the stars revealed themselves,   
twinkling out and offering a faint hope. Haruka didn't pay attention   
to the wind that was getting steadily colder as the night deepened.   
She  
had slipped into deep thought and wasn't paying attention to her  
surroundings. She was thinking of her past, of how she got to be where  
she was now. Memories rose up to meet her. And slowly she began to  
dream...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Haruka had never been a feminine girl. She had always preferred the   
more masculine way to dress and wear her hair, much to the dismay of   
her mother.Haruka's mother believed that she should act more like a   
girl and often they gotinto arguments that resulted in screaming   
matches and tears. It especially irritated Haruka's mother that she   
wouldn't even wear her hair in a feminine style. So it came that   
Haruka resented her mother for her inability to accept her for who   
she was and Haruka's mother resented her for not fitting the   
image she had held for her precious only child. The relationship had   
never been the same  
and to this day, Haruka could hardly tolerate her mother, even over   
the phone.  
Haruka's father, on the other hand, was accepting of his daughter's   
choice of fashion--much to the resentment of his wife. He felt that   
Haruka should be respected for who she was, not by what she wore or   
how she acted.  
It had put him at odds with his wife several times, but he wouldn't   
back down. Haruka loved her father for that. Haruka loved her father   
for being the one to support her in everything, to stand up for her   
to her mother. They shared a special bond that Haruka's mother just   
couldn't understand and that fact irritated her all the more.  
At school, ever since kindergarten, Haruka had been teased about the   
way she dressed and acted. Alienated from the girls since she didn't   
share the same tastes, alienated from the boys simply because of her   
gender. Thus, it resulted in her being alone most of the time at   
school. Haruka didn't care, though. She wasn't going to change   
because people thought she should. Like her father said, it wasn't   
what they thought that counted as long as you   
respected yourself. She had stuck by that her whole life.  
Another passion that grew by the day was racing and cars. She loved   
them. She couldn't get enough of them. She loved the feeling of the   
wind on her face. She had often exlclaimed to her father "I'm gonna   
become the wind, Otousan!" His father would pick her up and swing her   
through the air and make the wind fly through her hair. This love of   
the wind is what encouraged Haruka to take up running. Her father   
supported her in this and helped train her. Running provided an   
escape for her. Running helped her escape from her mother ever   
temporarily, as it offered an escape route when they got into an   
argument.  
But when Haruka turned 15, running proved to be an escape from more   
than her mother. When she was 15, her father died when he got into a   
car accident. Haruka would never forget the shock she felt when her   
mother broke the news to her. Haruka had just lost the only ally she   
had had in her life. She had closed herself off in her room till the   
day of the funeral, which had dawned overcast and wet. Haruka hardly   
felt like it was real, standing by the grave, dressed in black. It   
had been surreal to see her father's coffin lowered into the ground.   
And with the coffin, they also buried any happiness Haruka had ever   
had.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Thus, her running was her escape from emotions, from life, from   
memories, from her mother. Her mother had gotten even more resentful   
toward Haruka, since there had been that bond she and her father   
shared--Haruka's mother knew that there was never that bond between   
them. There had hardly been love. Haruka's father had loved Haruka's   
mother, but for Haruka's mother, it was an arranged marriage.   
Haruka's mother only married him out of respect for her parents and   
his. She had played the dutiful wife and mother. So when Haruka's   
father died, she was rather...empathetic. This is what drove Haruka   
to leave and finally seek a life of her own. She would never forget   
the argument that had occurred when Haruka's mother had learned of   
her intentions to leave.  
Haruka had ignored her mother's angry words and had just fled. She   
had never returned. She got an apartment and enrolled in Mugen   
Gaukuen, where she attended high school. She had sat down in the   
front row seat and had tried her best to not act interested. However,   
she soon felt a pair of eyes on her and she looked as covertly as she   
could toward the gaze. And saw the most beautiful woman she had ever   
seen. Deep blue eyes, as blue as the sea. The girl had shoulder   
length fluffy aquamarine hair and she looked kind. There was also a   
feeling...of...familiarity? Haruka shook herself out of her thoughts.   
She was being crazy! Recognizing a girl she never met before?   
Ridiculous!  
And suddenly, she saw it. The same kind of recognition in the girl's   
eyes. Haruka tore her gaze away and concentrated on the teacher as he   
walked into the room.  
"Class," the teacher began. "Class, we have a new student that's   
joining us today." At this point, the teacher looked at Haruka.   
"Would you like to introduce yourself?" Haruka, without responding,   
had stood up and faced the class. "I'm Tenoh Haruka. I just moved   
here and I'm 15 years old." And with that, Haruka had sat down and   
tried to act nonchalant. Tried not to notice her staring at him.   
And tried to dismiss the sense of destiny tugging at her heart...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Life went on with a sense of odd normality for Haruka. She had   
joined the track team and was succeeding wonderfully. Then, one day,   
after winning a race, she was wiping her face and taking a drink of   
water when one of the runners of the race, Elsa Grey, approached her.   
And right behind her was that girl... It took all of her self control   
not to spit out her water right then as Elsa proceeded to introduce   
the two. The girl's name was Kaioh Michiru. In her eyes, Haruka could   
see...the sea on a calm summer morning.  
"Tenoh-san, I was wondering if I could paint you... You intrigue me,   
you see..." Michiru said and faded off as if embarrassed, yet her   
gaze remained steady and her voice strong. She was just leaving the   
opportunity open between them. Everything in Haruka tugged her to say   
yes. But at the last minute, her cold, smooth persona slipped into   
place and she assumed a look of cool disinterest. "No thanks. That's   
not my type of thing." And with that, Haruka turned and left, her bag   
slung over a shoulder. She could feel the hurt feelings coming from   
Michiru, but Haruka couldn't bring herself to care. She had spent the   
last few months acting like she didn't care for Michiru, that she had   
no interest in her at all. The truth was, however, that Haruka had a   
hard time controlling her emotions when Michiru was around. But   
recently, she was having dreams. Weird dreams...of the end of the   
world and a mysterious female soldier coming to her. And something   
telling her to work on finding this soldier and helping her... And,   
even though she didn't know why, she would cut herself off from   
feeling any emotions toward Michiru, feeling her destiny lay with the   
mysterious soldier. She didn't have any time for romance at the   
moment. She had school, track, her job, and now this mission. That   
demanded all the free time she could get.   
And so, to keep herself from feeling anything, she cut herself off.   
If Michiru talked to her, she would give a distracted or rude reply   
and walk off, if Michiru approached her to sit by her in lunch, she   
would move away. She would ignore Michiru whenever Michiru was   
staring at her and trying to get her attention. She would return the   
notes Michiru sent her unreplied and unread. Instead of hanging out   
around school, she would go to Kameda-san's shop and help him work on   
cars. And as such, she began racing cars and found herself to be   
quite good at it.  
One day, shortly after her 16th birthday, at a race, Haruka heard   
some strange sounds coming from a garage. She walked over and,   
looking in, saw a boy doubled over in pain. "Hoi," Haruka called out,   
walking up to the boy. "Daijobu deska?" The boy looked up and   
whimpered out, "Help me! Please, save me!" Then he was consumed and   
turned into a monster. Haruka jumped back, eyes wide. "Nani?! she   
shouted. The monster lunged for her and Haruka fell back. But before   
the monster could make it to her, a flash of light stopped him. In   
the light formed a wand, and on the top, emblazoned in the gold star,   
was the symbol of Uranus. Haruka understood her destiny then, and   
reached out for the wand, a look of awe and wonder on her face.  
"Stop! Don't touch that!" a voice shouted at Haruka. Haruka yanked   
her hand away and then wand dropped to the floor with a clatter.   
Haruka looked over her shoulder and saw...Michiru, with a similar   
looking wand in her hand. "Only touch that if you want to lose   
control of your destiny, Tenoh Haruka." Michiru's eyes now reflected   
a stormy sea. She held up the wand and in a flash of blue light, she   
had transformed...into the mysterious soldier. Haruka's eyes widened   
even more. "You are...?" And suddenly it came crashing down on her.   
The feeling of recognition she always had around her. The tug to be   
with her... The mysterious soldier had been right under her nose the   
whole time and she had been rejecting her.  
The monster lunged again and Michiru said, creating a ball of water   
and energy in her hands, "Deep Submerge!" While the monster was   
destroyed and the boy was returned back to normal, it wasn't before   
it attacked Michiru and gashes appeared all over her body. Just to   
protect Haruka. She lay gasping in Haruka's arms. "If you...touch   
that...your whole destiny will be taken out of your hands..." Michiru   
gasped out. But Haruka had already made her decision. She picked up   
her wand and said, "If my destiny has to be taken out of my hands,   
hopefully it'll follow the same road as yours. I'll never push you   
away again." With that, Haruka kissed Michiru.  
Michiru returned the kiss and said, "I love you, Haruka, and I   
always will." Michiru wrapped her arms around Haruka's neck and   
kissed her deeply.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
Haruka sat looking up at the stars as the wind rustled her hair, the   
sea crashing down on the shore not far away. And the ghosts of   
memories surrounded her...  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
